The Anvil Hire Yamaha trio of James Rispoli, Billy McConnell and Shaun Winfield are about to head back to Spain as they prepare for the start of the new MCE British Superbike season.
The team will take part in a two day test in Calafat, with the riders finally getting their hands on the superbike-spec Yamaha R1s.
The riders will use the test as a chance to fine-tune their setups and work on components and upgrades to their machines.
Rispoli spent a week in Texas with the Colin Edwards Boot Camp, improving his bike fitness on-board motocross machines.
He said: “I am pumped! My stoke levels are through the roof. I cannot wait to get on the superbike, we have a ton of work to accomplish in little time.
“My pre-season training has been great and I am prepared to do as many laps as my crew chief will let me. I have been dreaming about the superbike for nearly 100 days now. It’s time to get to work!”
Rispoli was joined by Winfield in Texas, alongside the JG Speedfit Kawasaki duo of Peter Hickman and James Ellison.
An excited Winfield said: “I’m so excited for these next two days in Spain, I had a very successful shakedown at Cadwell Park and I have now an understanding of which direction I want to go in with the bike, and what I want to work on at Calafat.
“Hopefully the Spanish weather is kind to us over the next couple of days, because we have a lot to work on, but I’m confident we can hit the season running at Silverstone.”
Its been two months since the team’s last test at Almeria, when the riders were only able to run their stock machines.
Australian rider McConnell said: “I’m really looking forward to this test, this is where the real work starts. The last two were on stock bikes so we treated them as shakedowns and team bonding exercises, which worked really well for everyone.
“We have a lot of work to do this week on the superbike its our first real test on it as well, so we have different things we want to try and work through such as engine braking, rider positioning and lots of other stuff, which will help us when we get to Silverstone for the first round, so i just can’t wait.”
The new BSB season is only a couple of week away, with the first races of the year taking place at Silverstone on Sunday, April 8.
